The present invention relates to a communication system comprising a communication device which is coupled to a broadband distribution network and to a telephone network, the communication device comprising means for deriving an audio signal from a signal received from the broadband distribution network and means for supplying the audio signal to an audio output.
The present invention also relates to a communication device and a TV receiver comprising such a communication device.
A communication system according to the preamble is known from EN 301 195, xe2x80x9cDigital Video Broadcasting (DVB); Interaction channel through the global system for mobile communication.
Presently, in various countries digital TV systems are deployed, mainly based on the DVB (Digital Video Broadcast) or the ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee) standards. Both standards provide the possibility to introduce interactive services. Such interactive services can include, but are not limited to, Video on demand, pay per view, home shopping and playing games. In order to be able to introduce these interactive services, it is needed that the communication device can transmit control messages to a server via a return channel. In the above standard it is proposed to use a telephone network such as the GSM network for the return channel.
An object of the present invention is to provide a communication system according to the preamble which provides additional services.
To achieve the above object, the present invention is characterized in that the communication device comprises voice signal receiving means for receiving voice signals from the telephone network, the communication device further comprising storage means for storing the voice signals, retrieval means for retrieving the stored voice signals from the storage means and supply means for supplying the retrieved voice signals to the audio output.
By these measures the communication system can provide voice mail services: voice signals or messages can be received from the telephone network, for instance when a user of the system is not present, and can be stored onto the storage means. Furthermore, these stored voice signals can be retrieved, preferably on request of the user, from the storage means and supplied to the audio output so that they can be listened to by the user at a convenient moment.
An embodiment of the invention is characterized in that the communication device comprises signaling means for signaling the presence of stored voice signals. By introducing the signaling means a user can easily see whether there are stored voice signals or messages.
A further embodiment of the invention is characterized in that a TV receiver comprises the communication device. This gives a complete integration of voice mail and TV functions.